Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2007-08: Rylan Schwartz was the leading scorer for the Notre Dame Hounds in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. He scored 29 goals with 34 assists and had 83 penalty minutes in 56 games. The Hounds finished last in the Sherwood Division. In October 2007 he committed to playing college hockey at Colorado College in 2009-10.

2008-09: Schwartz led the Notre Dame Hounds in scoring for the second straight year and represented Canada West in the 2008 World Junior A challenge. Joined by his younger brother Jaden Schwartz (St. Louis), he scored 39 goals with 49 assists in 48 games and had 54 penalty minutes. The Hounds again finished last in the Sherwood Division. Schwartz scored 1 goal with 1 assist in four games for Canada West.

2009-10: Schwartz skated in all 39 games for Colorado College and was the Tigers’ third-leading scorer as a freshman. He scored 6 goals and was second on the Tigers with 22 assists; finishing -2 with 24 penalty minutes. Colorado College was sixth in the WCHA in the regular season and lost to Minnesota-Duluth in a three-game first round playoff series.

2010-11: Joined by his younger brother Jaden, who led the Tigers in scoring, Schwartz was the third-leading scorer for Colorado College in his sophomore season behind his brother and senior Stephen Schultz. Rylan Schwartz scored 10 goals and shared the assists lead with Schultz (28); finishing +7 with 61 penalty minutes (third most for the Tigers). Colorado College again finished sixth in the WCHA; earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament after reaching the conference semifinals. The Tigers lost to North Dakota in the WCHA semifinals but knocked off defending champion Boston College in the NCAA West Regional before falling to Michigan, 2-1, in the regional final game.

2011-12: Schwartz led Colorado College in goals in his junior season and finished one point behind his brother Jaden for the team’s point scoring lead. He scored 23 goals with 17 assists in 35 games and was +2 with 47 penalty minutes. The Tigers finished fifth in the WCHA and were swept by Michigan Tech in the first round of the conference playoffs.

2012-13: Schwartz signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Sharks in April 2013 following his senior season at Colorado College. He made his pro hockey debut with San Jose’s AHL affiliate in Worcester and in seven AHL games scored 1 goal with 3 assists and was +1 with 6 penalty minutes. Worcester missed the AHL playoffs after finishing fourth in the Atlantic Division. Skating on Colorado College’s top line with junior Alex Krushelnyski and sophomore Charlie Taft, he scored 20 goals with 22 assists and was +10 with 35 penalty minutes in 41 games. After finishing eighth in the WCHA, Colorado College won four straight tournament games to reach the WCHA Broadmoor Trophy Championship game but missed the NCAA Tournament after falling to Wisconsin, 3-2.

Talent Analysis

Schwartz is a center on the small side that is equally adept at both setting up and finishing plays. He has established himself as not only the Tigers’ top faceoff man and playmaker but also as a clutch goal scorer. He possesses great vision, hands, and can make some of the nicest tape-to-tape passes that you will ever see. One notable aspect of Schwartz’s development is how well he uses his strength; he is remarkably strong on his skates, which has greatly benefited his ability to protect and move with the puck. It has also enhanced his skating, adding power and more speed. Schwartz’s excellent stick work is among his best assets and one that has had NHL scouts taking notice. He utilizes his stick effectively in all three zones and it is especially evident in Colorado College’s transition game. Another area where Schwartz has developed quite nicely is on the defensive side. He has outstanding defensive zone awareness and has become an effective penalty killer for the Tigers. While Schwartz is not an overly physical player, he is a fierce competitor that does play with a bit of grit.

Future

Schwartz figures to play a key role in the Worcester offense this season—the transition from college hockey to the AHL is not always the easiest, but in his brief stint with the AHL Sharks after signing his entry-level deal in April, Schwartz did not look out of place and could find himself as one of the main cogs of the Worcester offensive machine.

Photo: A free agent signing out of Minnesota State-Mankato, Eriah Hayes made his NHL debut with the San Jose Sharks on January 5th in Chicago (courtesy of Warren Wimmer/Icon SMI)

The San Jose Sharks have considerable depth at the minor league affiliate level. Quantity does not equal quality though, and while the ranks are brimming in numbers, there is not a lot to be excited for at the halfway point of 2013-14 season.

Photo: Center Freddie Hamilton is just one of the prospects with San Jose’s AHL affiliate in Worcester with the potential to fill a complementary role in the NHL (courtesy of Scott W. Grau/Icon SMI)

Last season, San Jose Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson spoke adamantly about how the team would be going through a refresh rather than a restart. He would add small doses of youth along the way instead of tearing down his veteran squad for a full-fledged rebuild.

Photo: The Sharks have two of their top forward prospects turning pro in 2013-14: Tomas Hertl (pictured) and Matt Nieto (courtesy of Rocky Widner/Getty Images)

The San Jose Sharks have notoriously been known as having one of the worst prospect pools in all of hockey. Yet season after season new faces from the farm make waves and the depth charts are refreshed and they remain in the hunt.

Photo: Chris Tierney scored 21 points in 21 OHL playoff games to help the London Knights capture their second consecutive J. Ross Robertson Cup (courtesy of Terry Wilson/OHL Images)

The players in the San Jose Sharks prospect pool endured plenty of post-season successes and failures. The 2013 playoffs featured multiple first round exits, a few long runs in the CHL, and considerable amounts of golfing as a number of players did not even get a taste of the post-season. The prospect pool was a microcosm for the playoffs in general; you win some, you lose some, and that is just the nature of the game.

Photo: St. Cloud State junior defenseman Nick Jensen, who was named the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year, also earned national recognition as part of the All-America West First team (courtesy of Jeanine Leech/Icon SMI)

In this special edition of the NCAA prospect notebook, Hockey’s Future takes a look at some stories making headlines at the 2013 Frozen Four in Pittsburgh, PA.